ADEN - Al Qaeda militants took control of a western district of Yemen's main port city of Aden on Saturday night, residents said, in another sign that the group is drawing strength from five months of civil war.

The entrance of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula into Aden, once one of the world's busiest ports and the most secular and secure parts of an otherwise restive country, would be one of its biggest gains yet.

"Dozens of al Qaeda militants were patrolling the streets with their weapons in total freedom in a number of areas in Tawahi. At the same time, others raised the al Qaeda black flag above government buildings," a resident told Reuters.

He said flag was also flying over the administrative building of the port, although a port official later said that the flag was flying at the gate of the port's complex.

United Arab Emirates forces based in Aden meanwhile freed a British hostage who had been held by the group, the UAE state news agency WAM said on Sunday.

The hostage, earlier identified by a Yemeni police source as an oil worker abducted in February last year, was taken to the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi on a military plane on Saturday night, the agency said. (Reuters)